Thursday night, the New York Giants were slated to make their first selection with the 25th overall pick, marking the eighth time in franchise history they held that slot in the opening round. Yet after seeing the draft board begin to fall out of their favor, general manager Joe Schoen jumped on a seven-year trend and pushed the team up a notch to secure one of the most valuable players on the defensive side of the football.
Trading the 25th pick (plus their 160th and 240th overall picks) to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for their 24th selection, the Giants attacked their need for depth in the secondary by selecting cornerback Deonte Banks out of Maryland. It might have been one spot, but New York knew they had to step out of their comfort zone to preserve their goal of closing the talent gap with the rest of the NFC East.
“The way it went down and the way the board fell, we were getting depleted," Schoen said after the pick of Banks. “So it was the right thing to do for us…We had something in place with Jacksonville, and it worked out."
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